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Epistulae ad Familiares, Bk. Ltt.

rioting, on disregarding the auspices, and on the bestowal of royal titles.

8 And not in this trial only did I do so, but consistently and frequently in the Senate. Nay, more than that, in the consulship of Marcelllnus and Philippus,[1] on the 5th of April, it was my proposal which the Senate accepted that the question of the Campanian land should be laid before a full Senate on the 15th of May. Could I have more uncompromisingly invaded the very stronghold of the triumvirs' party, or more completely forgotten the days of my trouble and recalled the days of my power? The result of this expression of my opinion was a highly excited state of mind not only among those who naturally ought to feel excited, but also among those whom I had never expected to be so.[2]

9 For when a decree of the Senate had been passed on the lines of my motion, Pompey, though he had shown me no sign that he was offended, set out for Sardinia and Africa, and on the journey visited Caesar at Luca. There Caesar took exception to my motion in many respects,—since at Ravenna also, before that, he had seen Crassus, who had roused his hot indignation against me. It was common knowledge that Pompey was greatly annoyed at my proposal, as I had been told by others, but most particularly by my brother. When Pompey met him in Sardinia a few days after he had left Luca he said, "You are the very man I want to see! nothing could have happened more opportunely! Unless you remonstrate seriously with your brother, you must pay up what you guaranteed me on his behalf."[3]

To cut the story short, he complained bitterly,

  1. ↑ In 56 B.C.
  2. ↑ Watson suggests that eorum refers to Caesar and Crassus, illorum to Pompey and his friends.
  3. ↑ Quintus had, morally speaking, gone bail for his brother's support of the triumvirate, and must now fulfil that moral obligation. There is no question of a money payment.
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